BREAK for the Border, the parent company of Dublin's Gaiety Theatre and Cafe en Seine, yesterday announced a share issue to fund a £3 million sterling expansion and debt repayment programme. The O'Dwyer Brothers, Liam and Des, who, along with family members and associates, currently own 18.3 per cent, are not expected to take up their rights.

The company said it would offer investors one share for every four held, generating about £3 million after expenses. The firm's chairman, Mr Robert Gunlack, said £1.3 million would be used to finance an expansion of its main restaurant concept, the Break for the Border chain.

"We're doing this because we need to expand, and it would be unwise to become further indebted," he said last night.

The company now has three Break for the Border restaurants, one in Dublin and two in London.

On Monday, it expected to sign a deal to open a fourth, in a major English provincial town, said Mr Gunlack.

"There will be one extra restaurant this year for certain, and then up to nine more, in British and Irish cities," he added.

The company's Irish operations, which include the Gaiety Theatre and the Cafe en Seine, were making healthy profits, he said.

Last year, the company lost £600,000 when it changed its Oxford Circus Break for the Border restaurant into a party venue, Howl at the Moon. Mr Gunlack said the venue had been changed back to a Break for the Border, and was making money again.

This had helped to convince the company of the value of the restaurant concept, and propelled the plans for its expansion.

Following the rights issue, the O'Dwyer brothers' family and associates will hold 14.7 per cent of the shares. The company was floated in May, 1993.